Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease commonly occurring in humans and in companion animals (Richardson et al., Vet. Clin. North Amer. Small Animal Practice 27:883-911, 1997; Curtis et al., Drug Disc. Today 9:165-172, 2004). The disease involves progressive deterioration of articular cartilage with minimal inflammation (Schoenherr et al. in Small Animal Clinical Nutrition 4th Ed., Hand et al. Eds., Walsworth Publishing Company, Marceline, Mo., 2000, 907-921; Hedbom et al., Cell Mol. Life Sci 59:45-53, 2002; Pool, Front Biosci 4:D662-70, 1999). Management of osteoarthritis can include pharmacological treatments, surgery, nutraceutical administration and diet management. Such current management approaches have, however, focused on symptomatic relief and as such, they have not been entirely successful in disease management or in treating the underlying pathologies. Hence, there remains a continuing need for new approaches in managing osteoarthritis in humans and companion animals.